


Heart Softened

by CherryEmbly



Category: Naruto
Genre: Cute, F/M, Fluff, Light Angst, Love Story, No One Settles, No Smut, Per Your Endless Requests, Sweet, to make myself feel better
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-02
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-09-03 20:16:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8728705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CherryEmbly/pseuds/CherryEmbly
Summary: After years of shutting everyone and everything out, will Sasuke be able to allow love into his life?





	1. Okay

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends. Here's a new Naruto fic while I'm working on the sequel to When You Let Me See You. I wrote it to satiate both the copious amounts of Sasu/Saku requests I get, which is honestly shocking, and to satiate the fact that I don't like the fact that they ended up together. I think Sasuke ended up taking Sakura because he felt bad, and conversely, I think Sakura eventually comes to terms with the fact that she just isn't loved like she deserves, but doesn't care. They're both so wonderful in their own ways that I just ship them with other people.
> 
> So, to make myself feel better and to meet the requests, I wrote this fic which is my version of how Sasuke and Sakura officially fell in love. Something warmer and sweeter and truer. 
> 
> Chapters are short. There's a couple longer ones along the way, but this is a ficlet after all, so it's a lot of surface fluff without much depth. It's cute though, at least I think so. They'll go up every Friday until the end of the fic then the WYLMSY sequel will replace it.

The sunset over autumn-clad Konoha was a perfectly, picturesque backdrop for the intense changing of lives. 

“Please, Sasuke…” Sakura whimpered, almost at a whisper’s level. “Let me go with you.” 

As he heard the words, a few of Sasuke’s resolved truths settled over him. 

The first: he owed Sakura a great deal. She’d given up everything for him and never stopped loving him even when he was so far past being worthy of such love that he couldn’t even love himself. She deserved whatever she wanted and Sasuke intended to give her just that. 

The second: he’d ended his three year long journey to go back to Konoha for the specific purpose of being with her. Just because he found himself with reason to leave again, that fact hadn’t changed. He’d prepared himself for it. He was ready for it. 

The third: the isolation he’d endured every single day since the day his brother slaughtered his family and left him behind, was over. Though it was incredibly hard to accept, Sasuke knew there was no reason for him to be alone anymore. It would take decades, if not the whole of his life, before he could trust and let people in the way a normal person would, but he had to start somewhere, why not with Sakura?

“Okay,” Sasuke answered finally. 

He let out a soft sigh as he watched Sakura. The wind whipped her hair around her head gently; it was getting longer. Sakura’s eyes flitted to the ground as she fought to accept what Sasuke had just said. Standing in the same place they’d stood many times before where Sakura made her desperate attempts to convince Sasuke to stay or let her go with him; she was finally receiving a different answer. 

“O… Okay?” she asked. 

Sasuke couldn’t help but smile slightly as the kunoichi stood, shocked, before him. Somewhere in the far recesses of his mind, he’d always accepted that she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever known, even if it was just an objective opinion. “Yeah,” Sasuke replied. “I don’t think that you should. It gets pretty dangerous sometimes; I have many enemies.” 

“But--” Sakura started to yelp, but Sasuke held up his hand. 

“I said I don’t think that you should, not that I don’t want you to,” he explained calmly. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.” He didn’t entirely recognize the sentiment as he said it, but he knew it was true. He’d seen the world in many ways, but how would it change being with Sakura? 

“Don’t insult me to my face, Sasuke,” Sakura said meekly. “I may not be you or Naruto, but they haven’t assigned the title ‘Strongest Kunoichi in the Five Great Nations’ to me half-heartedly.” 

A rare chuckle snapped across Sasuke’s lips, making more noise in the huff of his nose, than in the snatch of his throat. “I suppose you’re right,” he said. “You are the woman who punched Kaguya outright.” 

“In the face,” Sakura added quickly. She smiled at first, but then blushed deeply and looked down again, sadly. 

“What is it?” Sasuke asked, legitimately concerned. 

“It’s just… I’ve waited so long to see you again and…” Sakura shifted uncomfortably. “I know I shouldn’t be selfish, because now you’re traveling on behalf of Konoha, but…” She looked straight up into Sasuke’s dark eye, stunning him with her own emerald. “I don’t want to be apart from you again…” Sakura’s voice cracked and eyes glistened. 

Sasuke might have struck himself with his own chidori if he hadn’t sanctioned himself to a calmer temperament. He never wanted Sakura to cry again because of him, yet there they were. He thought back on a time he’d spent with monks in the Land of Earth. 

_‘I don’t think I deserve to go back to them, sir. They’ve been honorable and loyal and I’ve done nothing but cause them pain and destruction.’_

_‘Young, Mr. Uchiha. If they’ve fought so hard to bring you home and to live happily alongside you, is staying away from them as a result of your own qualms not just as selfish as leaving them in the first place?’_

“Then come with me,” Sasuke said. “If ever a time comes that you can’t protect yourself, I’ll protect you.” 

Sakura’s eyes widened, filled to the brim with all of her emotions. “Sasuke, I…” 

“I don’t have much of a plan,” Sasuke said. “Hopefully you’ll be okay with a transient lifestyle.” 

Sakura blushed. “I couldn’t care less about the lifestyle if I get to be by your side.” 

Sasuke’s heart beat harder once when Sakura said that. It still enraged him to think that Sakura had remained loyal to him after all the pain he’d caused her. He knew, that he wasn’t worthy of such an amazing person, but if what she wanted was to be with him, then he wouldn’t stand in the way of that dream any longer. He only wanted Sakura to feel joy going forward. Traveling alongside him seemed like such a trivial thing, but looking at Sakura, she seemed genuinely happy for the opportunity. Sasuke would bring her with and he would protect her, and god willing, he would only cause her to smile from then on. He took an apprehensive step towards her, lifted his right arm, extended his hand with his pointer and middle fingers stuck out, and poked her in the middle of her forehead, right over her green, Strength of a Hundred seal. He smiled warmly at her, a smile he likely hadn’t used since long before his brother left Konoha. 

“I’m happy,” Sasuke said honestly. “With all the sins I’ve committed, to be granted such a high honor is unspeakable.” 

“Sasuke…” Sakura whispered. 

Sasuke pulled his arm back. “You’ll have to be patient with me. I’m not used to having company.” 

“This may come as a surprise to you, but I would consider having patience, with specific regard to you, one of my strongest skills,” Sakura joked. 

Sasuke nodded. “Yeah… Sorry.” 

“Ready when you are, Sasuke,” Sakura said smiling, green eyes glimmering in the sun. 

“You don’t need to get anything?” Sasuke asked. 

Sakura shook her head and her pink hair flopped around her head. “I have everything I need right here.” 

His heart rammed again. “Okay.” Sasuke turned his back and faced the exit to the village, he looked over his shoulder, bearing his non-rinnegan eye to her. “Let’s go.” 

Sakura smiled, large and beautiful at Sasuke, and nodded, walking forward until she was at his side. “Yeah. Let’s go.” 

“Leaving without saying goodbye?” 

Sasuke heard the voice and immediately figured he should have known better. No way were they getting outside the village without such an annoying intrusion.

He and Sakura turned and Naruto was standing there with Kakashi, Tsunade and Shizune behind him. 

Sakura pulled the two hokages and Shizune off to one side and began saying goodbye to them. 

“You’ve only been here a few days,” Naruto complained. “One of these days you’ll have to come home and stay here.”

“Yeah, but this is important,” Sasuke said. He and Naruto each watched Sakura bid her farewells. 

“She’s been through a lot Sasuke. Take care of her,” Naruto warned.

Sasuke nodded. “I’ve caused her enough pain. From here on out, nothing but happiness.”

Naruto smiled. His new black top and shorter blond hair gave him a regal appearance. “Good.”

When they looked back, Kakashi and Sakura were making their way over. Sakura stood next to Sasuke and blushed a bit.

“Well then you two, be careful out there. Naruto has fostered peace among the nations but that doesn’t mean danger doesn’t still hide in the shadows,” Kakashi lectured.

“We know that your reasons for travelling are personal, but you’re still ninja of Konoha. One of you was a Rogue Ninja once and the other is the strongest Kunoichi in the Five Nations, so you need to be extra careful to protect Konoha’s reputation,” Naruto continued. 

Naruto was sounding more and more ‘hokage’ like with each passing day. Given he didn’t love the position, Kakashi was likely to turn over the job sooner rather than later with him sounding so strong and dependable. 

“We know.” Sakura took a few steps forward. She kissed Kakashi on the cheek and then Naruto causing both of their faces to flush pink.

“It goes without saying that Sakura is important to us both Sasuke, and a treasure of Konoha. As Hokage, I’m tasking you with looking after her with all of your being,” Kakashi said.

“Don’t underestimate Sakura, Kakashi-Sensei. Even without Sasuke’s help she can protect herself.” Naruto laughed and Sakura smiled at them both endearingly.

“I would sooner die,” Sasuke started as they turned to face him, “than let anything happen to Sakura.”

Sakura’s entire face turned red. “Jeez, I’m lucky. I have three such wonderful men making such a fuss over me.” She waved her hands awkwardly. “We should go before I get anymore embarrassed.”

Kakashi and Naruto smiled.

“Yeah, let’s go, Sakura,” Sasuke said plainly.

Sakura nodded. She turned and smiled one last time at Naruto and Kakashi before they turned their backs to her and began to walk away themselves. Sakura leapt up into the trees, drawing some confusion from Sasuke.   
“Is everything okay?” Sakura asked. 

“Yeah,” Sasuke replied looking up at her, “but there’s really no need to rush. It’s a beautiful evening, so let’s walk below instead.” 

Sakura smiled at the request. She nodded and hopped down to the dirt road below. They weren’t far outside the village yet so there were still plenty of of people around. Teams of genin could be heard training in the distance and farmers were heading in from the day’s work.

“Sakura-Sensei!” a young voice sounded off behind them.

They turned and saw a girl, with large brown hair tufts hanging from the bottom of her head, running up to them. Sasuke didn’t recognize her, but that happened often to him when he was in Konoha. Most people, he either hadn’t met because he left when he was so young, or they’d grown and changed so much in his absence that he didn’t recognize them. 

“Oh, Moegi!” Sakura called.

Moegi? Sasuke did know her. He’d interacted with her and her team on a couple of occasions before he left. She was older and stronger looking. 

“Konohamaru told me you were leaving.” She sounded sad.

Sakura reached out and grabbed her shoulder. “Not for good or anything,” Sakura said and Moegi sighed in relief. “That Konohamaru. He only sticks around for half the story doesn’t he? He’s a lot like Naruto.”

Sasuke smirked. It didn’t sound like Naruto had changed much when people spoke about him, but he’s a completely different person. He wanted to know more about Naruto. It was one of things that he wanted to ask about on his journey with Sakura.

“That reminds me, I asked Naruto to tell you but since you’re here,” Sakura started and Moegi looked up at her. “Lady Tsunade, has been ill lately. Shizune seems to have things under control but she has a knack for sneaking away and doing things poor for her health like drinking and pouring all of her chakra into meaningless training. Could you look after her until I return? In exchange she may teach you a bit of what she knows. It would be very useful to you.”

Moegi looked shocked at first but then nodded happily. “You can count on me, Sensei!”

Sakura nodded. “I’m off then! Thank you Moegi!”

Sakura nodded and they began walking forward again. It wasn’t long before Sasuke noticed what Naruto had been talking about before. Nearly all of the ninja they passed stopped to wave at Sakura, greet her or bid her safe journey. He wasn’t unaware of the way the men looked at her specifically, many of them staring lovelorn as she passed. Sasuke knew that Naruto had become something of a hero in the village, but he didn’t once consider how Sakura’s reputation may have changed.

“They think very highly of you,” Sasuke commented between waves and passing conversation. He was anxious to get out of the reach of the village and achieve some real solitude.

Sakura shrugged and blushed lightly. “Well you don’t travel around with Naruto without a few perks.”

Sasuke shook his head. “No. This is different. This is years of them watching you struggle alongside Naruto; seeing the things you’ve seen and always remaining pure hearted. You fought just as heard in the war as Naruto and I, maybe more with the work you did to heal and drag some back from the very brink of death. Never attribute your successes to someone else. You’re loved because of your accomplishments.” Sasuke explained.

Sakura blushed a bit at the implication. “Thank you.” She smiled. 

As they finally cleared the bushes, something that had never happened to Sasuke before settled onto his body. 

Pure nervousness. 

He’d already earned Sakura’s love, so why did it suddenly make him feel so anxious to be alone with her?


	2. Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke and Sakura decide to exchange stories to get to know one another better.

Sasuke felt foolish. For all the things he’d been through, all the pure dangers he’d endured, he was legitimately afraid of asking Sakura to stop for the night and that fear make him want to jump into the Black River along which they were walking. The moon was getting fairly high in the sky, by Sasuke’s guess it was nearing midnight, but they pressed on quietly, walking at a steady pace in the chill air. 

“Do you always move at such a slow speed, Sasuke?” Sakura asked, breaking the silence. 

Sasuke glanced over at her. “Is it too slow?” 

Sakura shook her head lightly. “No, I like it. I guess I just always imagined you rushing around when I thought of you travelling.”

“Was that something you thought about often?” Sasuke asked, curiosity piqued. 

Crickets sang through the night and the gentle breeze of the night fluttered Sakura’s hair around her pale face. The quiet swish of the water from the river occasionally crushed against the shore with the slightly louder bash, and the stars of the night glinted through the trees. Sasuke watched the collective scene in slight awe. It was truly beautiful. 

“All the time,” she replied simply. “Where you were, what you were doing, if you were thinking of me, and even little stuff like, hopefully you were able to have a good meal or got the opportunity to rest.”

Always thought of, always cared for. In a way, it made Sasuke feel incredibly immature, maybe even more than Naruto. Here his gripe with the world had been that everyone who loved him had been taken from him leaving him alone, but in the end, he was simply refusing to see what was standing right in front of him. Not just Sakura, but Naruto and even Kakashi (for the most part) had stayed true to Sasuke, always fighting for him even when Sasuke was fighting against them. Being around Sakura all the time would take some getting used to, simply because she served as a constant reminder of the amount of damage he’d done in the name of settling scores, when he was never completely without the things he really desired. He had his eyes shut so tight for so long, that having them opened finally had proven to be a more painful experience than he was hoping. Still, he needed not run from the truth again. If Sakura would always cause him to reflect on the sins he committed for superfluous reasons, maybe that was a good thing. 

“It’s a little awkward isn’t it?” Sakura said, dragging Sasuke out of his thoughts.

“Hm?” Sasuke said. 

“This. Us,” Sakura replied. 

Sasuke shrugged. “A little. It’s probably all me. Sorry,” Sasuke said back. 

“No,” Sakura said. “It’s the situation. We haven’t seen each other for longer than a few minutes here or there since… Well really, since you first left nearly nine years ago.” 

Could that be right? Sasuke had just turned twenty a couple weeks prior and he did leave when he was around twelve and a half. “Wow.” Sasuke admitted to his shock. “I underestimated how long it’s been.” 

“Right?” Sakura said. “I think everything kind of started to run together for a while. I lost track of time myself.” Sakura ran her hand through her hair, something of a nervous twitch Sasuke had picked up on a few miles back. “Anyway, I think things might be a little weird while we catch up. It’s almost like we’re starting from scratch.” 

“I was never all that good at getting to know people in the first place, so you’ll have to take the lead,” Sasuke replied. 

Sakura hummed as she pondered it. “I know! You should tell me stories about things that happened while we were apart. Maybe that will make those nine years seem not so long.” 

Sasuke was averted to the idea upon hearing it, but realized that, if the suggestion was reciprocal, he wouldn’t mind hearing about what Sakura had been up to in the years they weren’t together. Hopefully she’d tell him all about where the hell all her strength came from, and how it came to be that Kakashi became Hokage; they were two things he was expressly curious about. “Okay. Will you tell me some too?”

Sakura’s cheeks hued over at the suggestion. “Y-yeah, if you want to hear them.” 

“I do,” Sasuke responded. “Um…” he stopped walking. “Maybe while we do that we should build a fire and stop for the night…” 

Sakura’s blush deepened. “O-okay.” 

Sasuke bit the inside of his cheek to calm his own nerves. “There’s a cave I know of just up ahead. Keeps the cold out well.” Sakura nodded, but didn’t respond audibly. It made Sasuke’s stomach turn so he started off again, clearing his throat to tell his first story. “What kind of story should I start with?” 

Sakura cleared her own throat. “I don’t know, whatever you want. Uh, what was it like living with Orochimaru?” Sakura asked. 

“Lonely,” Sasuke replied, “and creepy.” 

Sakura giggled and Sasuke side-eyed her, the sound of it was melodic and soothing. “I guess that should have been obvious.” She calmed a little. “What did you do there?”

“Trained mostly. Usually by myself, though occasionally Orochimaru would send me off on missions with one of his other flunkies and there was always a hidden motive. His hideout was not a comfortable place to be, but just outside it there was this cavern about halfway up a huge waterfall, I would train my chidori there and then just sit in the cavern. It was an oddly beautiful place for such a dark environment,” Sasuke explained. 

The Black River ended and met the land that would eventually turn into the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth. The erosion of the river over time had created a divot in the cliffs that the elements had hollowed out into a nice sized cave. Sasuke had used it on more than one occasion and knew well how to get there. 

“Although, if I'm being entirely honest, I would live with Orochimaru for the rest of my life if it meant I'd never have to stand within eyeshot of Kabuto again,” Sasuke added. 

“Kabuto? Orochimaru’s assistant?” Sakura asked. 

“Yeah. In my personal opinion, he had Orochimaru beat in both creepy and crazy criteria. Who’s crazier, the psycho or the guy who worships the psycho?” Sasuke asked. 

“Definitely the guy that worships the psycho,” Sakura agreed. 

“He used to do this thing where he would watch me train and take notes, most times I didn't even know he was standing there. Then afterwards he would have gotten all of this information just from watching me like my heart rate, how many times I used my right hand or my left, how much I sweat…” 

“Ugh,” Sakura groaned. “How closely do you have to watch someone to know how much they sweat?”

Sasuke scoffed. “Way too close.” Sakura chuckled. “Your turn,” Sasuke said, turning it into more of a question and answer game. 

“Okay… Anything in particular?” Sakura asked, following Sasuke to the left along the bank of the river. 

“I guess… How were missions with Naruto, as he got stronger?” Sasuke asked. “As you got stronger.”

“Every day with Naruto is an adventure,” Sakura giggled. “He’s seriously an idiot.” 

Sasuke laughed. “Yeah.” 

“But, there’s something about him. The bold way he storms into situations, the strength he battles with… Shikamaru and Kakashi both found themselves sucked in before they could stop it. He’s… Well, he’s our hero,” Sakura said admirably. “He can take the coldest, most downtrodden people and make them feel alive again, it was inspiring. I knew I had to get stronger too. That never stopped him from always vowing to protect me though. He’s… an idiot.” Sakura smiled. “Our idiot.” 

“I kind of hate that I empathize with that feeling…” Sasuke said and Sakura laughed. 

“Yeah. Okay, you. Tell me something from the last few years, after everything. How was it making amends with the Kage?” 

“Not easy,” Sasuke said. “Speaking of Naruto, it was his words of faith in me that seemed to help me the most. I met a couple of kids in the Land of Lightning, they reminded me of myself. They had Kerryuugan, eyes that exist somewhere between my Sharingan and the Hyuuga’s Byakuugan. It was the first time I solved a problem because I empathized with someone. I could see myself in them and so I didn’t hurt them and implored the prison where I brought them to forgive them. It changed my way of thinking. It reminded me that everyone has a reason, but that doesn’t mean they can cause destruction in the name of vengeance. I don’t want anyone else like me running around out there.” 

“You’re not so bad,” Sakura assured. 

Sasuke didn’t respond. He disagreed. “Tell me about Kakashi,” he asked. 

“Kakashi?” Sakura asked. Sasuke knew it probably shocked her. Respect for one another aside, the two didn’t get along. 

“Yeah, Kakashi,” Sasuke replied quickly. 

Sakura snickered. “What about?” 

“What do you know about him?” Sasuke asked. 

They’d reached the crevice where the cave had formed. It was a little up off the ground, having formed mostly when the sea level was higher, so Sasuke took a couple of steps up onto the rocks jutting upward, and kicked some aside to create footholds. 

“Just about everything,” Sakura said back. 

“Really?” He asked. 

Sasuke held out his hand to help Sakura climb into the cave. She was apprehensive at first, but eventually took his hand, blushing deeply and climbed in. The rush of water from the nearby river quieted as they entered and the cave smelled of fresh water and the slightly sweet smell of the fallen leaves from outside. 

“Y-yeah,” Sakura began. “With you and Naruto gone, it was just me and him, so we got to know each other pretty well.” 

“Me and Naruto? Where was Naruto?” Sasuke asked. 

He kicked aside rocks and dirt from a hole he used for a fire whenever he spent the night in the cave, and began tossing in sticks from a nearby pile he’d collected during previous visits. He skillfully used his only available arm to pull a pack of matches from the toolkit on his leg and strike one over the pit. 

“Naruto often left,” Sakura said, with a hint of sadness to her voice. “Right after you left the first time, he went and trained with Master Jiraiya for three years. He came back and was back for a while, but then he wanted to learn to control the Nine-Tails Chakra inside him, so he left again to train with Killer B. It was a trick by Lady Tsunade and the Tsuchikage to keep B and Naruto out of the war.” 

Sasuke recognized the name of the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki with whom he’d had a fairly terrible run in. 

Sakura sat down before the fire Sasuke had begun and pulled her bag off of her body and pulled her knees to her chest. Sasuke sat too, not too close or too far, just enough to increase the awkward level in the cave from ten to twenty. 

“He was with him all up until the war, until during the war actually,” Sakura continued. “Uh, sorry, none of that was about Kakashi…” 

Sasuke didn't know that Naruto had spent so much time away from Konoha as well. It made sense, he supposed. Naruto became incredibly strong in a short period of time and it couldn’t have been without some trial and error. Sasuke had to figure that if Naruto had done all his training in the village, he’d’ve leveled the place and killed half its citizens. It was for good, but it left Sakura all alone. 

“Was it lonely? Being without Naruto I mean,” Sasuke asked boldly. 

“At first. I was really hard on myself. I put the entire burden on Naruto and was left feeling weak and ineffectual myself. I promised him that I would get stronger and I did, but I always felt like he was leaving me behind a little,” Sakura explained, not mentioning feeling lonely from Sasuke once. 

“Does he still love you? The way he did then?” Sasuke asked. 

To add to the list of things Sasuke had done to hurt Naruto and Sakura, he stood in the way of them forming a relationship. Sakura was so in love with Sasuke that she was blind to Naruto, while he endlessly worked to protect Sakura, only to never have his feelings reciprocated. Sasuke hated that he’d caused that. 

“No,” Sakura replied. “I don’t know if Naruto’s feelings were ever real or not.” 

“No?” Sasuke asked and Sakura shook her head. The glow of the fire bounced off her pale skin and illuminated her beauty perfectly. 

“I don’t know, maybe it’s silly to compare the two, but I think if, at any point in the last nine and half years, you’d randomly come home and confessed love to me, I wouldn’t have been able to resist being with you if that’s what you said you wanted, but with Naruto, he turned it down in a second and told me I was lying to myself. That was the first time I realized that he probably didn’t love me as much as he said he did, or at least it wasn’t the same…” Sakura explained. 

Sasuke looked at her nervously. “Did you… confess love to Naruto?” 

It was barely visible in the dark, but Sakura’s entire face pinked, including the tip of her nose. “I didn’t mean… I just got caught up in the story, I didn’t mean to just spew it out like that.” 

“You did though?” Sasuke said. 

Sakura sighed. “You’d just mounted your attack on the Kage Summit and… I started to become afraid. I was thinking that Naruto was going to get himself killed running around trying to protect you and I knew I had to stop him. When you first left I cried to Naruto and asked him to bring you back and for a long time I blamed myself for being the reason Naruto chased you so tirelessly. I thought if I told him I loved him and didn’t love you anymore that he’d give up on you.” 

Sasuke did not like hearing that. What was worse? Learning that he had actually pushed Sakura to the point of giving up on him, learning that she’d confessed love to his best friend or learning that Sakura felt she had to sacrifice so much just to protect Naruto from him? Sasuke hated what he’d done to the people who cared for him. It was times like that that made Sasuke wish Naruto had allowed him to kill himself back in the Valley of the End. 

“Naruto saw right through me,” Sakura continued, “but I realized after that, that even though he claimed to love me so much, he never tried to discourage me from you, not even once, not even a little bit.”

“And then after that was when you…” Sasuke started. 

“Yeah,” Sakura mumbled. “I felt out of options, so I went to try and kill you on my own.” 

That part. 

That was the worst part.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What happens when two people who love each other have also tried to kill each other?


	3. Atonement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke reveals his true feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short, forward moving chapter. :)

“When that happened,” Sasuke started, “when you came to kill me, something strange happened. I didn't understand it until way later though.” 

Sakura looked at him. “Strange? What do you mean?” 

“Right before you arrived, I’d just finished defeating Danzo. I'd selfishly used Karin as a sacrifice to finish him off and she was laying on the ground, dying,” Sasuke said. Thinking of it still gave him nightmares. Another case of someone who loved him when he far from deserved it. “Obito was sitting up on this ledge and he said to me. ‘If you're done with that girl, finish her off.’ I thought maybe he was distracted or something, because he wasn’t even looking at Karin. A few minutes later, you showed up. Looking back, I think he was talking about you. He knew that if I killed you, it would commit me to his same philosophy about life at the time. After that run in with Naruto, he called me weak because I still hesitated before I killed you.” He looked over at Sakura and she was staring into the fire with a small smile on her face. He furrowed his brow, annoyed. “What?”

Sakura shrugged. “I guess I assumed all that time that you didn't think about me at all. It’s reassuring.” 

Sasuke didn't understand something so illogical. “It’s reassuring to know that I hesitated before killing you, even though I still tried to?” 

“Well it’s simpler than all that,” Sakura said simply. “At the very least it makes me feel a little more like I'm not casting into darkness.” 

“I don't understand it,” Sasuke growled, harsher than he intended. “After everything I've done, not just to you, but to everyone. How could you still think that way?” Sasuke sighed. “Why do you love me?” 

Sakura blushed. “I'm sorry, I don't really have a good answer to that question. It’s not something I can articulate, I just do. I got asked that a lot. Why I love you so much in spite of everything and I always told them I didn't know, but I never questioned it myself.” She smiled, looking over at Sasuke. “My love for you is the one thing I've never been unsure about.” 

Sasuke’s heart swelled to the point of breaking. He didn't deserve Sakura, that's all there was to it. She should be with someone who’s only ever treated her with kindness. He could only think that Sakura had been confessed to by more men than just Naruto; he briefly wondered how many. There were more honorable options to be certain, stabler ones. In spite of this, there Sakura was, sitting in a damp cave, watching Sasuke happily. 

The one who worships the psycho. By those standards, isn't Sakura crazier than Kabuto? 

“Sakura…” Sasuke began. He wouldn't keep his feelings bottled up anymore, Sakura deserved better than that. “I'm so sorry.” 

“Sasuke…” Sakura started, but Sasuke shook his head. 

“No, I just… I wish you would let me go,” Sasuke admitted. 

“I won’t,” Sakura said. 

Sasuke started into the fire as he listened to the definitiveness in her voice. “I’m sorry for everything. I don’t deserve to have you thinking of me.” 

Sakura shook her head. “You don't have to apologize anymore, Sasuke. It’s over now. More than anything, I just want to put it all behind us.” 

Sasuke nodded. “Yeah. I want to do that too.” Sasuke looked at Sakura earnestly. “Sakura, I may not ever understand why you love me, but I'd like to spend the rest of my life giving you only happiness.” 

“Sasuke…” The sudden words shocked Sakura. 

“I wouldn't consider myself worthy of such joys, but I want you to have whatever you want. If that means getting married or starting a family, then that's what I want to do,” Sasuke said. 

When he looked over at Sakura, her shock was gone and she just seemed sad. 

“Sasuke, do you… Do you love me?” Sakura asked. 

How could she question it after what he’d just said? “Would I have said that stuff to you just now if I didn’t.” 

Sakura stared at the ground of the cave, pulling her arms tightly around her legs and putting her head facedown in her lap. “Do you want those things because you want them or because I want them?” Sakura’s words were muffled into her legs, but Sasuke still heard them clearly. 

“Both?” Even Sasuke was aware of the questioning in his answer. 

“Are you pitying me?” Sakura looked up, and that time, her face was wrought with anger. 

“It’s not pity,” Sasuke replied, “but if I want to give you everything you’ve ever wanted because of everything I put you through, isn't that love?” 

Sakura stared at Sasuke with fury. “It’s not the same.” 

“I'm telling you I'll be with you. Isn't that what you want?” Sasuke asked, agitation of his own increasing. 

Sasuke had his guard so far down, that when he felt the impact of her fist to his face, he nearly thought it was someone else. He’d been staring right at her, but he didn't see it happen; she wasn’t just strong, she was fast. Sasuke flew backwards at such a high speed that the residual force of it blew out the fire and the nearby rock Sasuke crashed into cracked beneath him. He looked up in shock and Sakura was on her feet with her bag strangled in her left hand, while her right was still balled and red from having hit Sasuke. 

“What the--” Sasuke began, but stopped when he saw the look on Sakura’s face. Though visually enraged, tears were streaming down her face. 

“Don't use my love for you like some sort of atonement,” she hissed. “I may love you more than myself, but I deserve more than fake love given to me to make amends.” 

Sakura gave Sasuke one last pained look before turning and quickly leaving the cave. 

Sasuke was angry and confused. He didn't understand why, after all Sakura had ever wanted was to be with him, she would reject him so severely. He stood to his feet, shakily as it had been no ordinary punch, and rubbed his cheek. 

_‘I may love you more than myself, but I deserve more than fake love given to me to make amends…’_

She deserved more… There was no question about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With Sakura so upset, what will Sasuke choose to do?


	4. More

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke makes a shocking self-discovery about Sakura and it changes his perspective.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Kids, 
> 
> I'll be uploading lots of fics outside the schedule today and tomorrow. Right at the beginning of the month, my grandmother fell terribly ill and we thought we were gonna lose her, so between that and the holidays I've had NO time of my own. Things are finally getting back to normal so I'm working on getting everything updated. :) 
> 
> I hate that a few of them too were supposed to go up on holidays and didn't. Oh well, here's to organization and less drama in 2017! :D 
> 
> Also, I'm sure you've noticed the chapters in this fic run a little short. It's by design. It's not supposed to be some big elaborate fic, just a little one to make me feel better. 
> 
> P.S. Enough of you have requested a Prequel to Professors, Football and Stalkers, Oh My! that I've begun working on it. Don't expect it too soon, but it's in the chute. :)

Sasuke ambled towards the Land of Earth, alone yet again. The morning sun shined against his face He started to consider his next moves, very aware of the fact that he’d specifically planned a trip to the northern banks of the Land of Earth so that Sakura could see the beautiful waterfalls there. He found a nearby tree tucked away off the main road and leapt up into it and sat. 

He was frustrated. 

Never before had Sasuke acted on anything other than pure instinct. Not much time ever elapsed between when Sasuke had a thought and when he acted on it. He didn’t previously value thinking things through, impulsivity never cost him much because he never had anyone to answer to. That wasn’t the case anymore. Sasuke wanted to do right by Sakura, he really did, but it required much more intentional thought than he was used to. 

He swore suddenly, loud enough to disturb a pack of nearby birds that fluttered through the trees and away. 

He knew Sakura was right. 

After everything she’d been through, it wasn’t fair for Sasuke to approach her with half-hearted emotions. She said she deserved better and Sasuke couldn’t agree more. That’s ultimately why he had to leave her behind. As angry as she was, she had to have enough ammo to get over him now. There had to be plenty of men that wanted to be with her. She could get over Sasuke and move on with someone better for her, maybe even Naruto. That’s what she deserved. Sasuke refused to hold her back anymore. 

He jumped down out of the tree he was in and thought about his mission from Kakashi. There were plenty of places all over the Five Great Nations that were uncharted and unknown. In order to keep everything under watch with White Zetsu on the loose, Kakashi asked Sasuke to visit the furthest and most obscure places he could find to keep an eye out for the threat. Additionally, Naruto had commended Sasuke on his makeshift policing of the Five Nations and thought it would serve everyone well for him to keep at it. Even though it was Sakura that had originally reminded Sasuke he dreamed of doing something similar when he was younger. 

Sakura… 

Even though it was inadvertent, she was one of the only people Sasuke had shared that dream with… 

_‘What are you doing?’_

_‘I’m training.’_

_‘Training? We’re only six. You should come play with us.’_

_‘I can’t play.’_

_‘How come?’_

_‘Because I’m training.’_

_‘Hey, are you from the Uchiha clan? I recognize the symbol on your shirt.’_

_‘Yeah, what’s it to you?’_

_‘My dad told me about the Uchiha Clan.’_

_‘Don’t say anything ba--’_

_‘He said that Fugaku Uchiha is a good man. He said that he runs the police station well and if I’m ever in trouble I can ask him for help. Do you want to be a police officer too?’_

_‘…yeah.’_

_‘I… I hope you do it. Then I’ll really feel safe…’_

_‘Sakura! Come on! We need someone fast for our team!’_

_‘Coming! Well… good luck with training. Wh--when you’re done come play with us. See ya.’_

At the time all Sasuke could think about was how weird the interaction had been. Most people avoided him, his entire clan actually. No one ever told him they’d heard his father was a good man, and in a way, her mentioning that she’d feel safe with Sasuke as a police officer, made him really happy. He liked protecting people, he always had. He was so distracted by vengeance that he ended up hurting more people than he ever protected. 

She’d ignited the dream the first time all those years ago and then she’d reignited it when she mentioned it to Naruto before he came back. 

The only thing he ever dreamed, that he ever truly wanted to be, had been bolstered by Sakura. 

Sasuke stopped moving and the wind whipped his tan poncho around him and his hair across his eyes. 

She’d done so much for him. 

He stared out towards the Land of Earth and suddenly felt incredibly disappointed. It was the strangest thing, but though they’d only been together for a few hours, with Sakura gone, Sasuke felt lonely; he missed her. Worse, he’d made very specific decisions about where he was going to go and what he wanted to do, based on having Sakura with him. Now that those plans had changed, he was upset. 

The sound of Sakura laughing and the sight of her smiling as they walked and exchanged stories the night prior raced through Sasuke’s mind. He wasn’t as shocked about the fact that he felt nostalgic about them as he was about the fact that it didn’t feel unfamiliar. He felt like he’d missed Sakura before, but didn’t have a conscious memory of it. 

Then again… 

There were days in Orochimaru’s hideout when he would sit and think about his time in Konoha, remembering the way Sakura would always pretend to be annoyed by Naruto when she was really secretly amused by him, or the way she smiled happily whenever they were together as a team, even though Sasuke never understood. They were the calmest and happiest times of his life. Of course he missed her when he left. Why wouldn’t he? 

He couldn’t believe he was about to run away again. Sakura wasn’t to blame. He was the one who approached her, came home looking to be with her. Then he took her out of Konoha just to make some weak-minded confession of love that was nothing but smoke and mirrors. Then when she got angry and left, Sasuke just let her go. He guessed it was a good thing the roles weren’t reversed. Apparently he wasn’t cut out for fighting for things worth fighting for. 

He knew what he had to do. 

He turned confidently and made his way back towards Konoha. He would chase after Sakura for once. He’d tell her exactly how he felt, honestly, and let her choose what she wanted. He still wasn’t entirely sure what he’d have to say when he finally caught up to her, but he would tell her the one thing she needed to know. 

Sasuke did care about her. 

No pity or atonements, just honest emotions. 

He wouldn’t run away from her again, in fact, he would go to her always. 

That’s what she deserved and that’s what he’d give her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke heads back to Konoha to retrieve Sakura.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke goes back to Konoha in search of Sakura.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday, everyone!

Sasuke didn’t know if he’d ever get used to the lukewarm way he was greeted whenever he entered the village. People knew he was a hero and carried with him the devoted words of Kakashi and Naruto, the sixth and eventually seventh hokages, but they also knew he was the dangerous rogue that trained under the equally dangerous Orochimaru and attacked the Five Kage summit before the war. It was the same way most people looked at him, no matter where he went, but Konoha’s citizens’ gazes were tainted with the fear that he lived in the same place as them. Most people just watched him with a timeline of how long he’d be there taped to their eyes. The people of Konoha knew, one day Sasuke would enter the village and he wouldn’t leave, and they feared what that meant. 

Still, Sasuke didn’t have time to be worried about them, he had a mission of another kind. Sasuke knew where Sakura lived and also where her clinic was located in town, but if he knew her even a little bit, he figured she’d be in the Hokage’s office, likely spewing what happened; another reason for the man to dislike him. He didn’t care. Let all the people around him hate him, if he could make amends with Sakura, that was all he was really worried about. 

“Sasuke?” a familiar voice grumbled his name. 

Sasuke looked over and Naruto was sitting at his favorite Ramen restaurant with, of all people, Hinata sitting next to him. 

“Naruto, Hinata,” Sasuke greeted. 

Naruto gave Hinata a brief smile and then stood up and walked over to Sasuke. “What are you doing here? What happened to travelling with Sakura?” 

“Yeah… I messed that up,” Sasuke admitted.

Naruto laughed. “Eventually, you’re going to have to get better at living life.” 

Sasuke groaned. “Don’t laugh at me.” 

Naruto wrapped his arm around Sasuke’s back and Sasuke glared at him through his open eye. He pointed at Hinata sitting at the ramen stand eating at chatting happily with Ayame. “We’re together now.” 

Sasuke was shocked. “Really?” 

“Yeah,” Naruto replied. 

“Wow.” 

“Right? I’m super lucky,” Naruto said and Sasuke found himself jealous of his ability to be so open. He pulled himself from around Sasuke. “So, what’d you do? Did she hit you!?” Naruto allowed his hand to float over Sasuke’s cheek where Sakura punched him.

“Yeah,” Sasuke said, pushing Naruto’s hand away.. “I uh… Can you…” Sasuke turned suddenly and started to walk away, but Naruto grabbed him by the collar and stopped him. 

“Gimmie a sec,” Naruto read Sasuke’s mind.

He walked back through the open doors of Ichiraku Ramen and walked up to Hinata. He touched her lightly on her back and though Sasuke could hear Naruto’s voice, the distance kept him from making out the specific words. Hinata nodded, stood up and kissed Naruto on his cheek. Sasuke watched, jealous again. Must be nice. Naruto placed some money on the counter of the restaurant and then he and Hinata approached Sasuke. 

“Good to see you, Sasuke,” Hinata greeted meekly. She smiled one last time at Naruto and then walked away up the road. 

Sasuke watched Naruto stare lovesick after Hinata as she walked away. At the very least his fears about Naruto being in love with Sakura were fading at an exponential rate. Sasuke was happy for Naruto. For a brief moment, Sasuke considered the fact that their children would have Naruto’s raw strength and also inherit the Byakuugan, and was legitimately afraid. Those kids were going to be terrifyingly strong. 

“Okay,” Naruto said. “Walk and talk.” 

There was something admirable about the way Naruto knew, without Sasuke admitting it, that he wanted to talk about what happened. As crazy as it was, handling things in a calm and rational manner was more Naruto’s wheelhouse. Sasuke walked alongside Naruto who, likely subconsciously, led them to the training grounds along the river where they often met as a team back in their genin days. 

“It was going well at first, but, then I told her that I wanted to give her happiness and if that meant getting married and having kids, then we should. She got really mad and punched me and left,” Sasuke explained quickly, leaving out the small details. Naruto chuckled and it pissed Sasuke off. “What?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be a genius or something? You’re pretty stupid, Sasuke,” Naruto insulted. 

“Huh?!” Sasuke said. 

Naruto sat on the edge of the river and Sasuke sat down behind him. 

“No one wants to feel settled for, Sasuke,” Naruto said, sounding far wiser than Sasuke remembered the goofball to be. “Sakura did it to me once.” 

“She told me,” Sasuke said. “I tried to tell Sakura that I’m not pitying her or anything.” 

“It’s simple, Sasuke. Do you want to spend your life with Sakura and have kids with her? I mean, if you didn’t feel like you owed her so much for hurting her, would you still want to? If not, then it’s not love, and don’t insult her by being with her like that,” Naruto said. 

“I don’t…” Sasuke sighed. “I wouldn’t have said that stuff if I didn’t feel… that way.” 

Naruto slowly lifted his hand and then whacked Sasuke across the back of the head. 

Sasuke blew air out of his nose angrily. “Why does everyone keep hitting me? I don’t like that.” 

“Sasuke, Sakura is the most sought after woman in all the Five Great Nations. She’s smart, strong, funny, caring, brave. If you keep dealing in these wishy washy feelings, you’re gonna lose her,” Naruto said boldly. 

“Can you… Can you tell me some things about her?” Sasuke asked. 

“Like what?” Naruto said. 

“Anything,” Sasuke said. “I just want to know more about her.” 

“Uh, well. As you’ve learned the hard way, when it comes down to pure strength, Sakura has us both beat. She could kill a guy with a single punch. We went on a mission together a while back, and she punched a guy in the leg and shattered it. Shattered, Sasuke. Not broken, shattered to pieces. It didn’t even look like she’d hit him that hard, but--” Naruto made some strange crunch/squish sound and made a explosion motion with his hands. 

“She’s really good with animals, and children. She loves sweet foods and uh, her favorite color is red,” Naruto continued. “Apparently a little while ago, Kakashi-Sensei made her stop calling him ‘Sensei.’ He said it’s because he didn’t feel like he’d taught her much, but that she learned much more from Tsunade and Shizune and on her own.” Naruto thought for a little bit. “She pretends to be really logical, but she’s actually dangerously impulsive, worse than both of us.”

Sasuke was jealous. It really seemed like Naruto knew everything there was to know about Sakura. 

“You know, the whole time you were gone, I never tried to discourage her from loving you,” Naruto continued. 

“Yeah, she told me that too,” Sasuke said. “Thank you.” 

“I knew all along that you would return her feelings once you came around. You weren’t open to feeling that way, but once you were, you’d realize how great she is. Honestly, I don’t know how anyone could know Sakura and not love her. I knew that once you got to know her again, you’d feel the same way for her as she does for you,” Naruto said, “but if you don’t act fast, she’s going to leave you behind.” 

Sasuke took a deep breath. “I think I’m scared of it.” 

“It’s scary,” Naruto said, “but it’s also the greatest thing in the world. Don’t cut yourself out because you’re afraid. You’ve done enough of that.” 

“Yeah,” Sasuke said. “Thanks, Naruto.” 

“Yeah,” Naruto said. “What are friends for?” He smiled stupidly and Sasuke smirked back. 

“Oh, Naruto, here you are, did you… Oh, Sasuke…” 

Sasuke and Naruto looked behind them and Shikamaru was standing lazily, with his hands tucked in his pockets. 

“Hey, Shikamaru, what’s up?” Naruto asked. 

“Er… um… Temari just got here and she told me Sakura was in Suna and seemed upse. I was wondering if you knew what happened, but maybe I should be asking Sasuke,” Shikamaru said. 

“It’s a long story,” Naruto replied on Sasuke’s behalf. “Why do you look so nervous though? Sakura can take care of herself, and Gaara isn’t going to let anything happen to her.” 

“No, that’s for sure,” Shikamaru said. “I think she may have gone there to, um, be with Gaara.” 

Sasuke did his best to hide his shock and hurt, but wasn’t sure how well he did when Shikamaru nodded knowingly at him. 

“What? Why do you say that?” Naruto asked. 

“Apparently, he confessed to her a few weeks ago, but she turned him down. Temari said when she arrived there late last night, she went to see Gaara in his office and, um…” Shikamaru watched Sasuke nervously. “Uh, never came out.” 

“Th-thanks, Shikamaru,” Naruto replied, equally as nervous. 

“Do you want me to do anything?” Shikamaru asked. Sasuke thought it was odd for him to make the request to Naruto like he wasn’t actually a higher ranking ninja than he was. 

“No, Sasuke will go and take care of it,” Naruto said. “He needs to be the one who does it.” 

Shikamaru nodded and walked away without another word and Naruto looked at Sasuke. “You may not like hearing it, but Gaara is actually a lot like you. If Sakura was going to leave you behind for anyone…” 

Sasuke stood up. “Yeah, you’re right, I have to go.” 

“Want me to come?” Naruto asked. 

Sasuke shook his head. “I have to do this on my own.” 

“Well go fast, and for the love of god, please don’t kill Gaara,” Naruto begged as he stared out over the river. 

Sasuke didn’t respond, because he couldn’t honestly make that promise. Just the thought of Gaara being near Sakura agitated Sasuke. If he were to walk upon them them in some sort of compromising situation, he didn’t know what he would do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke is going to have to come to terms with his own emotions before he can face Sakura properly.


	6. Heart Softened

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something strange is happening.

A familiar burning that Sasuke distinctly remembered slashed at the left side of his neck. He was confused and in pain, but most importantly, he was terrified. 

Itachi had removed the curse mark from Sasuke during their battle, so why could he feel it singeing his neck, pulsing unimaginable power that was too much for him, through his veins?

“Hold on, Sasuke…” Sasuke expected that voice to be there. It was Sakura. It was young Sakura. “C’mon…” As he listened to her soft cooing, he became aware of the feeling of her hand on his back. 

Not sure how it was possible, he was his twelve year old self again, in the Forest of Death, during the chunin exams. He’d just been bitten by Orochimaru and given the curse mark. He knew where he was. He knew what was happening. What he didn’t know, was why? 

Despite his consciousness, Sasuke fought against the pain of the Curse Mark seeping into his bloodstream and coursing through his body, but was powerless to fight it. It was then that Sakura reached down and took Sasuke into her arms. At first it was a safe enough distance. She had Sasuke’s hand gripped firmly in her own and still rubbed his back gently hoping to help Sasuke through the agony, but, despite his strain not to do so, Sasuke was quickly succumbing to the torture. 

He fell against Sakura’s chest. All up until that point, Sasuke didn’t think he had any memory of that moment, only of waking up some time later in a power induced rage, but evidently he did. The pain slowly abated and Sasuke recalled listening to the distinctive beating of Sakura’s heart and the sniffling as she cried. She wrapped her arms around Sasuke and every place her body touched his, he could feel the love surging through. 

But it wasn’t hers for him… 

…it was his for her. 

“Don’t let go of me,” Sasuke whispered, but he got no reply. Sasuke never said anything like it back then. Why was he saying it now? “Never let go of me.” 

He felt comforted in Sakura’s arms, loved, and it was the first time that he felt genuinely for her. Whether it was love or something on the road to love, it was those emotions that ignited the Curse Mark later when he felt powerless to protect her against the sound ninja. He hadn’t realized at the time, but it was that powerlessness that lit the Curse Mark ablaze. 

He knew then that he loved her.

 

 

Sasuke stood looking down at Sakura passed out on the bench.

“I want to stay with you,” Sasuke said. “I don’t want to leave.” 

He watched her chest rising and falling gently in her kipao. Leaves drifted across the ground and the shadows cast by the setting sun were ominous. Sasuke knew that the power Orochimaru had sewn into him was already beginning to take over. He remembered the hatred the Uchiha clan suffered because of their anger and power-control problems and he remembered that he was the younger brother of the murderous Itachi, who'd slayed their entire family, clan, in a single night. 

That power was going to take him over soon enough too. 

“I can’t stay and love you,” Sasuke said. “I want to, but something like that isn’t in my destiny. I’m sorry.” 

 

 

“Would you really betray Konoha for me?” Sasuke asked. 

He was standing on the bridge in the wake of his fight with Danzo. Sakura was facing him, promising to do whatever he wanted. Claiming that she regretted not going with him. 

And he was hopeful. He didn’t remember feeling hopeful, but as he relived the moment, it was distinct and significant. 

“Then prove it,” Sasuke demanded. 

He was weak at the time. The battle with Danzo had nearly tapped him entirely. It’s likely why he didn’t realize that the poison tipped kunai knife she held was meant to kill him until she was much closer to him. 

Then he was heartbroken. 

“Have I really pushed you this far?” Sasuke asked as she hunched over Karin, pretending as though she would kill the woman at Sasuke’s request. Sasuke had never actually asked that question. “Have even you given up on me?” 

She was so close to him then. It took active effort not to reach out and touch her, or note how incredibly beautiful she’d become in the time they’d been apart. Every rumor he’d heard of the breathtaking, medical kunoichi from Konoha had proved true. 

That’s why he had to kill her. 

If Naruto was the persistent reality of Sasuke’s life, Sakura was his dream. As much as he needed to kill Naruto to sever the last tie of friendship he had, he likewise had to kill Sakura; the dream of true love that he’d never have the joy of experiencing. If he was ever going to get his revenge on his brother, he had to get rid of both. 

In a blur, Kakashi was smacking Sasuke’s chidori away, just barely saving Sakura’s life. For a brief moment Sasuke couldn’t house his shock, no, relief. He stood facing Kakashi, his one revealed eye looking at him with hatred and sadness. 

“Thank you, Kakashi,” Sasuke said. It wasn’t what he said at the time, but it was how he felt. He was reckless and he knew if the opportunity presented itself for him to try and kill Sakura again, he would. Just like, if the opportunity presented for him to kill Naruto again, he would. 

 

 

Sasuke wasn't sure how he'd gotten to the sand village, but he was there, standing just outside the gates. 

"Ugh, I seriously hate travelling through that desert." Sasuke heard Sakura’s voice behind him and it made his stomach twist. 

He turned and saw Sakura and Shikamaru walking towards him. A quick look at himself proved he was back in present day from whatever nightmare or genjutsu he’d been trapped in that had taken him on a bizarre journey through his memories. He felt relieved at first, but the feeling quickly faded into confusion as they each lacked a reaction to his standing right in front of them. 

"Still..." Shikamaru responded. "We made it here in a little under a day, I think that's our fastest time." 

As they reached the spot where Sasuke was standing, he sighed and prepared to apologize. However, instead of Sasuke's body serving as an obstacle, Sakura's body passed right through his, like a ghost. Sasuke looked down at his hand and torso and they both appeared to be solid. He could bunch his own clothes in his remaining hand like they were real. What was going on? 

"Sakura." Sasuke called out, but she didn't respond. 

Intrigued, Sasuke followed Sakura and Shikamaru across the gates of the Sand Village into the town. People were cheerily walking around talking, laughing and shopping and several of them greeted Sakura, waving and even stopping her for conversation. Sasuke knew that the Leaf Village and Sand Village had a great relationship with Gaara and Naruto becoming such good friends but he didn't expect it to be strong enough for so many people to know Sakura and fawn over her so significantly. 

"Sorry, we've got to report in. Don't worry, you'll be able to spend lots of time with her soon enough," Shikamaru explained, wrapping his arm around Sakura's back and urging her forward. 

They would?

Sasuke followed them to a large building in the center of the village. He expected it was similar to the Hokage's building in the Leaf. The hallways twisted and turned confusingly though Sakura and Shikamaru both seemed to know exactly where they were going. Official looking Sand nin walked along the hallways as well, and all of them that passed Sakura, offered her a light bow. Why were they behaving so formally towards her? They turned and entered a room that opened up into a huge, ballroom-like space. Several nin were fluttering about hanging decorations and arranging tables and chairs, and Sasuke recognized two of the three sand siblings that he'd faced in his chunin exams, standing in the middle. He was surprised and a bit impressed at how much more mature they looked, especially Gaara who's sand gourd was more proportionate to his body than it was last time they'd met. 

Temari turned, giving Sasuke a better view of her face. Though Sasuke thought she was beautiful, with Sakura standing so near to her, she may as well have been the wallpaper. 

"Hey, I didn't know you two would be in so soon," Temari mused happily. 

She walked over to Shikamaru whose, typically serious demeanor, changed completely to something warm and light. He smiled brighter than Sasuke had ever seen him smile before, and the way he looked at her was like something out of a novel. She kissed him on his cheek and rubbed the back of his head, returning the warm look as she did so. 

"We made great time, the rest aren't far behind, but they aren't used to the journey so they were too slow for us," Sakura explained as she continued past Shikamaru and Temari, approaching Gaara. 

Gaara turned and looked at Sakura and smiled happily as well. A small bit of sand began to seep out of his gourd and wrapped around Sakura's body, lifting her gently off the ground and closing the distance between she and Gaara faster. Gaara reached out his arms, as the sand placed Sakura in them, and he blushed as her lips met his. 

A lump gathered in the pit of Sasuke's throat as he watched what was happening. He'd gotten in a single argument with Sakura. Was that really the final straw for her to lead her here? After all that time? Shaking his head a bit he knew that this couldn't be real. Memories travelled back into his head of talking to Shikamaru in The Leaf only hours ago. He couldn't have met with Sakura, decided to come here, left and gotten here that quickly. Not to mention, that would have made his claim that she was already gone, a complete lie.

He hadn’t been released from the genjutsu after all. He lifted his arm with his pointer and middle fingers pointing up and closed his eyes. "Release."

He opened his eyes, truly hoping that the scene wouldn't still be before him, but to his disappointment, Gaara and Sakura were now standing face to face, both blushing heavily. 

"Alright you two, save it for the honeymoon," Temari mused. 

Honeymoon?

Sasuke could hear the door open behind him. He turned and barely had time to see who it was before Naruto was flying into the room, tripping, and landing square on his face. 

"Idiot," The other sand sibling, Kankuro, said from the doorway. 

Several people that Sasuke knew filtered in along with a few he didn't. 

Kakashi lead the group, followed by Tsunade and some other woman with black hair he knew he’d seen before he and Sakura left, but couldn’t remember her name. A couple of sand Ninja Sasuke didn't recognize entered, followed by Ino and a Leaf Jonin he recognized as the wood user, but didn't know his name either, and the last person in the room was Hinata, who appeared to be several months pregnant. 

"Naruto. It was extremely irresponsible for you to enter the room before your pregnant wife," Sakura scolded. 

Naruto got back to his feet and looked at Sakura. "Hey, I put her in the back so I could make sure everything in the room was okay first!" 

Sakura eyed him like she didn't believe him. "You know you're going to have to develop some poise at some point if you ever want to be Hokage." 

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and smiled. "Right..." 

"That's everyone then right?" Shikamaru was counting the ranks. 

"Is this all?" Kakashi sounded confused. 

"Well of course, everyone will be here for the wedding tomorrow, but this is all for dinner," Sakura explained. 

Wedding?

"No, wait. Someone is missing," Naruto said, looking around the room. Sasuke looked at his friend hopefully. 

"Oh yeah..." Hinata responded.

"Come to think of it, he didn't travel with us, is he already here?" Naruto asked. 

"He had a nearby mission so I told him to just come here after instead," Kakashi explained. 

"Yeah, Sai got in late last night. We asked him to wait at the restaurant for us. It always gets busy this time of night and we wanted to make sure we'd have space for everyone. They aren't the best at observing reservations," Temari explained. 

Sasuke actually felt a tinge of sadness then. He’d been completely forgotten. 

"Oh good. That's everyone then!" Naruto exclaimed. 

"Well we should get going then," Tsunade interjected for the first time. "I need a drink." 

"Honestly, Lady Tsunade..." The black-haired woman scolded. 

Everyone began to filter out of the room, laughing and chatting. It made Sasuke’s throat burn with frustration. When Sakura was about to pass through Sasuke’s body, just as everyone else had, she stopped and made direct eye contact with him. Heart pounding, he wondered if she could see him. He reached out an arm, but before he could touch her the room began to fade to black and it was just him and her. 

Tears started to stream down her face. "Sasuke," she whispered. 

Sasuke heard the memorable screech of his chidori and looked down and saw his arm flying forward from his body. It pierced Sakura’s body and blood splattered down onto his arm. He stared in horror, unsure of what to do. Suddenly he was crying. Why was he doing this to her?

Sakura weakly lifted her hand and placed it on his face. "Sasuke, I love you." With that her body burst into dust and she disappeared from sight. 

In a burst of light, Sasuke was back in Konoha surrounded by all of the people he'd just been looking at, dressed all in black. Many of them were crying and Kakashi was crouched down with his head in his lap, inconsolable. Tsunade knelt near him, rubbing his back in support, though she looked a wreck herself. 

"All she did was love him. Even after everything, how could he do this to her?" Ino whispered before receding into tears again. 

Sai rubbed her back as tears of his own fell from his eyes. "I was supposed to be able to protect her." 

"It wasn't your fault, Sai," the wood style ninja said from close by. He was clearly sad, but not crying. "Naruto and Sakura put their faith in him and he let us all down. He stole our light. I don't know what will happen to Naruto now." 

"He won't recover." Shikamaru said, to Sasuke's surprise, crying. "Sakura was his solace. His sanity. Without her, he'll probably never be the same again. Kakashi either, he loved her like a daughter." 

"All she did was love him..." Ino repeated. 

In a flash, Sasuke was standing in complete darkness again. Bit by bit, small pieces of a familiar scene began to appear. First the sidewalk and bench, then the trees and shrubs, and the giant gates of Konoha. He recognized it as the place he and Sakura had stood when she tried to convince him not to leave; though as young Sakura and young Sasuke appeared, the roles were reversed. 

Small, 12 year old Sasuke stood staring at Sakura's back with tears streaming down his face. Sakura's face, on the other hand, was cold and unrelenting. Is that what he looked like when that happened? 

"Sakura, please don't go," young Sasuke pleaded. "I love you." 

Young Sakura ignored him completely, taking a few steps forward. 

"STOP!" Young Sasuke screamed. "PLEASE DON'T GO! STAY HERE WITH ME! I'LL HELP YOU! I'LL TAKE YOUR PAIN AWAY!" 

Orochimaru's curse mark, slowly crawled over Sakura's face. She turned and looked at young Sasuke. "You're annoying. I have to go. I don't have time to stay here and be in love with you. It would be nice, but my destiny is different." 

In a moment of freak enlightenment, Sasuke finally understood the purpose of the visions he was having. They weren’t nightmares or genjutsu at all. His sharingan was showing him the truth of his life; the moments it captured when it was braced against Sakura. What was and what could have been. His powerful eyes never did cease to amaze him. 

As though he'd found the magic trigger, everything went dark, and when he opened his eyes again, he was back in the field he was walking through on his way to the Sand Village. Sasuke’s memory of where he was came back to him in a way that made him frustrated he couldn’t remember it while he was journeying through his memories. He’d left Konoha bound for Suna to retrieve Sakura, though if his memories were serving him correctly-- 

"You didn't make it very far." Sasuke recognized the voice, and felt immediately relieved to be hearing it. 

He craned his head and looked up and Naruto was there. He held out a hand which Sasuke graciously took to get back to his feet and he could see Hinata was standing just behind him. 

"We'll help you find Sakura," Hinata said sweetly. 

Sasuke sighed with relief. "Thank you. I have a lot I have to tell her."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke, Naruto and Hinata finally arrive in Sunagakure, only to find that Sasuke's fears may not be far from reality.

**Author's Note:**

> Next Week: Sasuke doesn't know how to be around someone so wonderful.


End file.
